Becoming an effective science disseminator is a legitimate aspiration of male and female researchers, but the goal requires numerous skills: control of voice and body, the ability to synthesize combined with the pliability to change linguistic register depending on the audience, as well as the ability to manage stress in order to have a clarity of exposition that instills in the listener a sense of authority. These characteristics are, however, always described in general terms, without precise objective reference. A research coordinated by the Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation of the National Research Council (CNR-Irib), conducted with the Institute for Research on Population and Social Policy (CNR-Irpps), the CNR Press Office Unit and the RaiNews24 Science Editorial Office, published in Plos One, has made it possible, for the first time, to discover how some of the most well-known science popularizers in the organization manage to control stress during a live interview without knowing the questions.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
> Here < the reference article on the CNR website.
> Here < the article in Plos One
Science communicators were characterized by high levels of self-esteem and prosociality, which were positively correlated with communication indices and inversely correlated with age.
The study published in Plos one provided the psychophysiological correlates of skilled science communicators for the first time. Today, in universities or schools, explicit training for non-expert communicators is still unusual because the focus is usually on developing communication skills among scientists through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. Scientists who are reluctant to engage in public activities sometimes claim a lack of training or confidence in their ability to communicate science. The ultimate goal of the study is to prepare the future generation of scientists to deal with difficult communication situations, such as skeptical or divided audiences.
